Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) 19th July, 2026

Newsletter 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) 19th July, 2026.pdf

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GOSPEL REFLECTION ...

In today’s Gospel Our Lord says: “The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed … the enemy came, sowed darnel among the wheat. And the servants of the owner said: “Let them grow to the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt then gather the wheat to my barn.” Our Lord says that people of this kingdom on earth are “subjects of the evil one.” Our Lord did say that the prince of this kingdom on earth is the evil one. To His disciples, Our Lord said (John 14:30): “I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming.” This kingdom on the earth is subject to sin, since sin entered into the world by Adam and Eve. Therefore, this kingdom is going in one direction – that is further into sin, further into the power of the evil one. St Paul in Romans said that this world, this kingdom, is in “bondage of decay.” In other words, this world, this kingdom is decaying or rotting. St Paul said: (Romans 8:21) “We wait for creation to be set free from the ‘bondage of decay’ to be brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” “We, who possess the Holy Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly wait for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our bodies.” God is calling us to keep our eyes on Him and on His Kingdom and not on this kingdom on earth. The darnel in today’s Gospel, looks like wheat, but it is a poison and causes nausea when eaten. The darnel of this kingdom is the flesh and the world, which looks attractive or enticing, but it is poison, because it can leave us more under the control of the evil one. The wheat also refers to the Eucharist, which Our Lord called “food for eternal life” (John 6:51) and which the Church calls the “bread of angels.” In other words, the Eucharist is the food of God’s Kingdom. Whereas darnel represents the food of this world. This food is poison which leads to eternal death or eternal separation from God’s love and life. In today’s Gospel, the owner of the field allowed the darnel to grow. God allows evil people to exist in this world. St Jose Maria Escriva, on commenting on this point, said we should not be scandalized by the co-existence of evil in this world, because evil only exists for our sanctification, in order to restore God’s Kingdom in us and in the world. In God’s Kingdom, in heaven, we will have the beatific vision, where we will see God face to face and therefore, we will see God’s Infinite Love. At the last supper Our Lord placed St John, a beloved Apostle’s head on His Sacred Heart. St John had a foretaste of heaven. He experienced God’s Kingdom as the Angels and Saints in heaven do, perfect fulfillment. Of course, St John could not leave his head permanently on Our Lord’s Heart, he had other things to do, but it was Our Lord’s Will that St John would always experience God’s Kingdom. It is God’s Will that each one of us always experience God’s Kingdom, Heaven, (as the Angels and Saints do, in Heaven). Our challenge is to always say “yes” to God’s Will, “as it is done in Heaven”. If we knew how much Our Lord loves us, we would say ‘no’ to this Kingdom no matter how great the temptations and we would say ‘yes’ to God’s Will with every fibre of our heart. The God who created all things, seen and unseen, humbled Himself to become a mere piece of bread. Why? Because He wants us to have as much as He can give. God wants us to have Holy Communion, complete oneness or union with Himself. In other words, God wants to us to have His Kingdom in us and in all the world!

by Fr Doug Harris